Hi HCP,

Thank you for your message.

As you say:
Once the data files were recovered, if you knew your passwords (if any) then the recovery of the funds would have been a matter of minutes.


Actually, I had no clue what to do with the data files which were offered to me in the first place, if I know how to do, I would have been happy with that. Also, I had lost the password, so it had to be brute forced or something. Noway I could have managed by myself.

But for most people in this forum, I believe they would have been fine with getting the services of data files recovery and then recover the funds themselves.

I have no knowledge in IT, computing, coding etc... I am just a plain basic computer user (email, internet and shopping online) so yes, for me this was the best option and I am really happy. Problem sorted and really trustworthy data recovery company.

Nicky

Hi Pmalek,

Thank you very much for your post.

Yes, indeed it took so long. But, also for several month I was torn about what to do and who to turn to. I know by myself there was no way I would resolve it. I had to turn to some IT specialist who some expertise of BTC recovery. They are no many out there and there are many scams, 'experts' taking advantage of novice people like me, who get they BTC slolen being told that 'they tried all and nothing was possible to recover their bitcoin'.

My laptop was dead (wouldn't switch on), Multibit Classic discontinued, lost wallet password etc....

At first I was quoted around £1,146 VAT included to recover the file from the broken drive, the quote was detailing the process they would go through. Only apply if they are successful. which they did: they send me a email with an attached file showing me the list of the the BTC files and I could see what files was there. They offered me to have these file on USB stick if I wanted to carry on with my own means (I think many people in this forum are very proficient technically and would choose this option). But that's not my case at all. I needed them to do the whole thing without me being involved in technical process.

Because of the severity of the job, this was a challenge and they struggled to get the BTC from the file (to be extracted and sent in a wallet) they suggested a solution that is having a partner company they have a contract with to assist further. The fees for that is 30% of the wallet. Of course, I accepted it. So more specialists become involved, I know they spent 2 days on my case.... Until they recovered my BTC and when I was ready in my side (set up of my hard wallet Ledger Nano S) they send me my BTC into my wallet minus the 30% fees.

This may seem high fees for some, but I was not knowledgeable in any way to handle by myself recovery from the files as per the first quote.
And I really needed the whole job to be done for me and have the BTC sent into my new hard wallet. So, I was happy to have them get well deserve 30% of what they recovered for their job. I still have a very good amount returned to me, I could have none if those guys didn't help me.

Yes, this will help me enormously because of my health issues. I had to give up my job because it's so debilitating and the NHS after 3 years of invasive tests, exams and procedures never managed to find what I have got. Only a Professor I found which is private care has diagnosed my condition and I need to pay private costs. (he has treated many patients with same condition as me). So, I can now take care of myself and look forward to get in normal health as soon as possible and get back to work and have a normal life.

So, I would really recommend this recovery company, they are very competent, professional and trustworthy. In this business, this is priceless...
https://www.dataclinic.co.uk/cryptocurrency-wallet-recovery/

I hope this help.
Nicky

Hi BlackHatCoiner and Hi NeuroticFish,

Thank you so much for sharing my happiness with this good ending for me!
That's so kind of you and it's lovely to read your comments.

Yes, I have the hardware Ledger Nano S wallet. I watched several time youtube video for set up etc so when I received my Ledger Nano S wallet (bought directly from Ledger official website) it was a bit easier for me to go through the set up process and get to understand how it work.

Indeed, I've got my 24 words well written and I shall keep them safe. Really good suggestion to have TWICE. I will copy them in another paper and keep it in a separate safe place for double back up!

You guys on this website are really great and I have always welcome all you suggestions. So thank you again today.

Nicky

Hello,

I wanted to give you an update regarding my BTC in Multibit Classic wallet in my dead / broken laptop.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5329499.40


As you know, this has been an headache for me. Multibit Classic does not have seed words recovery phrase, and it has been discontinued in addition to the fact that I have the wallet in a dead laptop and I am not a technical person at all.

I really wanted to give a big thanks any to all of technical people and BTC experts on this forum who tried to help me even if I didn't manage by myself.

After holding for few months, being stuck and not knowing what to do, I decided to contact a recovery company which specialised in recovering Bitcoin. I was extremely hesitant because of trust issue. It's always possible for a recovery service to tell you that they tried and couldn't managed (laptop dead and too damaged / no password etc...) and then keep the bitcoin for themselves...

So after doing some searches and queries with some of recovery companies in UK (where I live) I had some who never responded to my query, some that I wasn't sure about and one company who was very straightforward, explained the process and started to give me some hope.

I made more researches on that specific company and found out that they have helped police to recover data for example. I had more conversation with them. I found Chris was very professional, clearly explained what they would do and their commitment to preserve bitcoin ownership to their clients. I started to have my trust growing from also a good guts feeling.

I decided to go with them and they arranged for a courrier to pick up my dead computer. On reception, Chris confirmed it was with them and they would take good care of the work to carry on. I was fully informed at each step. Overall, it took about a week (I know they had quite a challenge with my case...) and finally they recovered my bitcoin!

I have then bought a hard wallet (Ledger Nano S) to which Chris transfer the BTC they recovered, so I have now my bitcoin back and it's now kept in a secure wallet.

If you happen to be in UK and in trouble with Bitcoin you need to have experts to recover for you, I would higher recommend that you are using their services. They are trustworthy and that's something that I do not say easily.

The company is called Dataclinic:
https://www.dataclinic.co.uk/cryptocurrency-wallet-recovery/

If they can't do this for you, I don't know who could. I am really impressed and forever grateful with them helping me. Especially since I have a chronic medical condition that the NHS is unable to treat and I had to go private for treatment, so having my BTC recovered, is going to help me greatly with the cost.

I hope this help.

Nicky

Hello,

I wanted to give you an update regarding my BTC in Multibit Classic wallet in my dead / broken laptop.

As you know, this has been an headache for me. Multibit Classic does not have seed words recovery phrase, and it has been discontinued in addition to the fact that I have the wallet in a dead laptop and I am not a technical person at all.

I really wanted to give a big thanks any to all of technical people and BTC experts on this forum who tried to help me even if I didn't manage by myself.

After holding for few months, being stuck and not knowing what to do, I decided to contact a recovery company which specialised in recovering Bitcoin. I was extremely hesitant because of trust issue. It's always possible for a recovery service to tell you that they tried and couldn't managed (laptop dead and too damaged / no password etc...) and then keep the bitcoin for themselves...

So after doing some searches and queries with some of recovery companies in UK (where I live) I had some who never responded to my query, some that I wasn't sure about and one company who was very straightforward, explained the process and started to give me some hope.

I made more researches on that specific company and found out that they have helped police to recover data for example. I had more conversation with them. I found Chris was very professional, clearly explained what they would do and their commitment to preserve bitcoin ownership to their clients. I started to have my trust growing from also a good guts feeling.

I decided to go with them and they arranged for a courrier to pick up my dead computer. On reception, Chris confirmed it was with them and they would take good care of the work to carry on. I was fully informed at each step. Overall, it took about a week (I know they had quite a challenge with my case...) and finally they recovered my bitcoin!

I have then bought a hard wallet (Ledger Nano S) to which Chris transfer the BTC they recovered, so I have now my bitcoin back and it's now kept in a secure wallet.

If you happen to be in UK and in trouble with Bitcoin you need to have experts to recover for you, I would higher recommend that you are using their services. They are trustworthy and that's something that I do not say easily.

The company is called Dataclinic:
https://www.dataclinic.co.uk/cryptocurrency-wallet-recovery/

If they can't do this for you, I don't know who could. I am really impressed and forever grateful with them helping me. Especially since I have a chronic medical condition that the NHS is unable to treat and I had to go private for treatment, so having my BTC recovered, is going to help me greatly with the cost.

I hope this help.

Nicky

Hi BlackHatCointer,

No, I didn't give him the 16 words.

I tried the link provided:
https://login.blockchain.com/wallet/forgot-password?guid=

I have entered there my 16 words, all checked in the link:
https://github.com/blockchain/unused-My-Wallet/blob/master/mnemonic_words_v3.html
And they are all there. So I wanted to be sure I didn't have any misspelled word or something/

So, when I entered all my 16 words in the blockchain mnemonic phrase in the box provided I have a message below:
Invalid checksum

Thank you very much again.

Nicky

Hi Trigger 1975,

Thank you very much.

Jim Burton graciously responded to me.

He confirmed that mnemonic phrase was only for Multibit HD as previously suggested in several posts here by different members. Phrases length were 12, 18 and 24 words. So, that's not the case with me having 16 words only.

I made more searches and find that 16 words could be to old Bitcoin recovery password phrase. I tried to see if my words were there:
https://github.com/blockchain/unused-My-Wallet/blob/master/mnemonic_words_v3.html

And yes, they are!

It happens that along with my paper notes in the same notebook as my 16 words phrase, I have a login name and password for Blockchain, so at some point I had signed up and I guess this is where I got the 16 words phrase. So, it's not related to my Multibit wallet from which I therefore not have any mnemonic phrase to recover my bitcoin.

As previously stated, my Multibit classic wallet is in laptop that is dead / broken but I still have it.

I contacted Dave at https://walletrecoveryservices.com who responded to me, but he works on lost password / seed phrase etc. and not on broken laptop so I don't think he would be able to help. He asked me for my seed words, since there are not related to my wallet, this won't work.

So, I need to find a reliable and trustworthy bitcoin recovery service for broken laptop. I am not going to rush into that, I need to do extensive researches. If it happens that a member her knows somebody who can do that for me (I live in London, UK) please let me know.

Thank you all again for your kind time and helpful input.

Nicky

Hi BlackHatCoiner and HCP,

I do not remember what I deleted from my previous laptop. I tried to 'remove' program from the control panel in order to make disk space but it didn't do the job... Now the computer is dead.

And the bitcoin I got in my Multibit Classic wallet in there was sent from Kraken which I had first bought my bitcoin. Then Jim Burton helped me to get it in Multibit Wallet at the Vap cafe.

NB. After a lot of searches, I found Jim Burton... Through Meetup.com website and I sent him a message. I hope he will respond to clarify the 16 words mystery (to me) and also let me know any recommendation or help if he can provide me. I explained about the dead laptop...

HCP: Jim Burton was the UK lead developer for Multibit. So the group meeting was only about Multibit Wallet. From what you say he may have shown Blockchain but I do not remember at all... It has been a while. I hope Jim Burton will let me know about this as well regarding if the 16 words are related he should know.

So, if he replied to me, I will let you know. Fingers crossed.

What a mess I have done.

Thank you again all of you for your kind help and time. You have been so patient with me because I am so inept and uneducated in technology etc. So really a huge thank you.

Nicky

Hi trigger 1975,

It came back to me that my wallet was set up with the help of Jim Burton (in a Vap cafe - London Shoreditch) we were a small group of people, new to bitcoin and this was an hour session to get help as we were all novice.

I am very affirmative that Jim Burton insisted on taking the time to copy on a piece of paper 16 words that was randomly given (can't remember how) and he said that this would help to recover our bitcoin if we have issue like wallet lost or anything else (in my case my laptop is broken - but I still have it). Hence I was looking for a way to recover my bitcoin with my 16 words phrases. I searched the internet endlessly, really desperate.

Thank you for providing the web link for web.archive.org for the help page. (the last one) the other one are downloading and I don't know what to do with it.

Hi NeuroticFish,

After searching in pictures and some other helpful posts here, I can confirm that I have Multibit Classic.
How could my founds by in Blockchain? I remember very well them to be in my Multibit wallet in my broken laptop.
The company does bitcoin recovery: https://www.mjm.co.uk/specialist-services/bitcoin-recovery.html  - Please have a reed and let me know

Hi BlackHatCoiner,

My laptop is really broken. An asus Transformer notebook T100TA 2GB - Very light in weight and capacity...
The guy in the Vap cafe was Jim Burton... I have been searching for him in google but so far no luck. Still searching...

Thank you all for your help. I really appreciate your expertise and time.

Nicky



 

Hello,

That's all so weird the 16 words recovery phrase enigma....

I still have my broken laptop with me (which has the initial wallet where it was originally set up).

Have you heard of successful bitcoin recovery?
What do you think of this:
https://www.mjm.co.uk/specialist-services/bitcoin-recovery.html

Or, is somebody aware of trustworthy recovery service or bitcoin expert I could contact and could help me?

I live in London - Great Britain.

Thank you
Nicky

Hi BlackHatCoiner,

Yes, they are. All of them. Like: newborn or pinpoint....

I was wondering if it would be worth considering using a 'bitcoin recovering data services' here in London to get professional to look into my broken laptop which has the initial Multibit Wallet. Maybe, from there the data recovery expert would be able to get my private keys and with this I could then use it to get my bitcoin in Electrum?

Problem is that would be difficult to trust somebody to do that: there might be some scams out there to take advance of people stuck technically and steal their bitcoins.... Or to end up with somebody who claim they can recover and they cannot, then the broken laptop would become totally redundant even for recovery...

Any recommendation on that very welcome.

I am so lost.

Whatever the outcome of all of this, I am immensely grateful to all of you in this forum who has kindly been trying to help me with my problem.

Thank you
Nicky

Hi BlackHatCoiner,

Thank you for the link.

I have checked all my 16 words from my phrase with the tip of Ctrl+F and none of my words are in this list. So, I tried all of them, and for each of them I had a sound (like an error sound) as word couldn't be found each time...

Don't know what that's mean at all...

Thank you
Nicky

Hello,

This is how my multibit wallet looks like:


https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/MultiBit


So, if somebody has the same layout, they can confirm if this is classic or HD.

Thank you.
Nicky

Hello,

I thought that I had Multibit classic, but after reading all posts, I am not sure anymore. I tried to copy the layout of my Multibit via Snipping tool in this post, but I didn't manage... Sorry about this. However, it seems that with Multibit HD seems more common to recover bitcoin, so I hope this is what I have.

Lucius: No, can't find the may who helped us back in 2014 to set up the wallet and told us to keep those 16 words. It was a 'one day event' that you book through meeting website for events with people of similar interest. This one was for novice people willing to have help to get a wallet with Multibit.
I can however, remember very well that he said that those 16 words were to be kept in case we had to recover the wallet and those words in we loose it, we was like loosing our bitcoin and we needed them to recover the bitcoin if needed.

NeuroticFish: It flash each word in orange and offers me an alternative word instead. How weird. I could understand if I written badly one word (because of one wrong letter) but it does that for each of them... I tried to replace with the alternative suggested for few words, but it keep going on. So I got back to my initial words (the way I wrote them) ignoring words suggested to see.
Then I went to the Derivation Path section and selected 'Multibit HB' in client: I have in orange top of the page the message: 'Invalid Root Key'.

Thank you again for your time and help. I really appreciate also your patience...

Nicky

Hi NeuroticFish,

Thank you so so so much for all your help and time.

I managed to copy the folder in my desktop (thanks for advising me on that, this was very clear) and to open the Mnemonic Code Converter which looks exactly like your screenshot! So, that's good.

I have entered my 16 words and I have one that is flagged in 'orange' and I am given an alternative option saying that this word doesn't exist in the wordlist.  Message is xxxx is not in the worldlist, do you mean xxxx ?

Should I keep the word the way I entered it (but I have the orange flag) or should I replace it with the word they suggest which has one letter different (maybe I wrote it wrong in the first place, my hand writing is quite bad...)?

I understand that you have to go, but again, thank you so much for your help.

As I am stuck, I would wait for whenever I can get addition help to carry on the process, if you are back tomorrow, I would be happy to follow up with your kind help. I really appreciate.

Thank you and waiting for next step. Again, I have one word which shows in 'orange' on top right.

Thank you so much
Nicky

Good news is: the page tool for Mnemonic looks exactly like yours, so I have the good one...

Hi NeuroticFish,

I am sorry, but as I told you I am not technical at all.

Regarding the zip file, yes I did click on it only. I don't know how to unpack it.

Not clear for me 'how to copy it'. If I right click 'copy' on the folder bip39-master then what do you mean by 'copy it somewhere else'...?
Sorry, but I really struggle with this, I know that is surely very easy for you, apologies to be so unable with basic computer functiion.

Since it seems that the tools works only for Multibit HD and not for Multibit Classic, any other route for me (simple please) to use my 16 words phrase and recover my bitcoin? Like into another wallet that could recognize my 16 words phrase?

Or any other easy option?

Thank you again so much for your help.

Nicky

Hi NeuroticFish,

Thank you so much for all of this.

I have tried to follow you onscreen steps and guidance.

Yes, it looks differently, but I have located the Derivation Path section.
However, I cannot get 'Multibit' under the drop down arrow in the 'client' section.

Also, I do not have Multibit HD but Multibit classic. I do not if this matter or no.

Do I need to press enter or tick something once I have written my 16 words as previously? Because I should be like you able to select 'multibit' in the client section, but I cannot: it doesn't move...

Thank you
Nicky

Regarding 16 words, I can confirm that I have indeed the 16 words phassphrase.

When I got help for the setting of my wallet Multibit Classic in 2014 with the tech guy in the Vap cafe in London Shoreditch, he strongly insisted that all of us taking time to write carefully the 16 words that was generated and to keep them in a piece of paper safely.

He explained that this was for us to recover the bitcoin in case we loose the wallet, or the computer or whatever.

I have kept this piece of paper with my 16 words seed (as I believe you call that). That's why I am trying to recover my bitcoin with them.

NB. I am a woman.

Thank you for all your help out there... I hope I can recover my bitcoin.

I am quite desperate. I lost my job and I am currently ill with a chronic condition, so recovering my bitcoin would be amazing to me.

Thank you for your kind help and support.

Nicky

Hi NeuroticFish,

I have entered my 16 words in the space but it's look slightly different from your screenshot. Didn't 'enter' or 'confirm' anything. No orange colour...



Valid entropy values include:

 Binary [0-1]
101010011
 Base 6 [0-5]
123434014
 Dice [1-6]
62535634
 Base 10 [0-9]
90834528
 Hex [0-9A-F]
4187a8bfd9
 Card [A2-9TJQK][CDHS]
ahqs9dtc
 Show entropy details
 Hide all private info
Mnemonic Language
English 日本語 Español 中文(简体) 中文(繁體) Français Italiano 한국어 Čeština Português
BIP39 Mnemonic
ENTERED MY 16 WORDS THERE

Thank you
Nicky

Hi NeuroticFish,

Thank you very much for this.

I have followed your instruction and got the file open as a web page.

However, there are so many things in there... Where do I enter my 16 words? I don't know where to enter them at all... Sorry about this.

Please help.

Thank you
Nicky